Launching its ScanEagle unmanned aircraft from Oliktok Point at the North Slope of Alaska, Insitu conducted flight operations for the U....
Launching its ScanEagle unmanned aircraft from Oliktok Point at the North Slope of Alaska, Insitu conducted flight operations for the U.S. Coast Guard 13-15 July.
The successful demonstration was part of the Coast Guard Research and Development Center's Arctic Technology Evaluation 2015 Search and Rescue exercise (SAREX 2015), an event designed to evaluate unmanned technologies in remote area Search and Rescue (SAR) and simulate a collaborative response effort between government and industry entities to an offshore emergency.
Other participants included ConocoPhillips, Era Helicopters, the Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration and the North Slope Borough.
ScanEagle demonstrated Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) hub-and-spoke capabilities, launching from the shore and handing off control of the aircraft to operators aboard the USCGC HEALY. In flight, the platform provided persistent overwatch, delivering real-time imagery and proving its ability to maximize USCG maritime assets that routinely conduct operations in extreme Arctic conditions.
ScanEagle also demonstrated its potential for other operations such as marine mammal surveying and ice floe and ice ridge mapping.
Insitu's ScanEagle is a reliable, expeditionary, small footprint solution that delivers persistent imagery on land or at sea at a fraction of the cost of other intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance methods.
In 2013, ScanEagle received the first restricted category type certification for small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) from the Federal Aviation Administration, a milestone that helped further the FAA's goal of integrating UAS into national airspace.
